Measure to temporarily suspend evictions to apply to Welsh tenants

23 Mar 2020 04:39 PM

The Welsh Government has agreed that measures being developed by the UK Government to temporarily suspend evictions from social or private rented accommodation will apply to Welsh tenants.

Last week, the RLA called for clarity from the Welsh Government after the UK Government outlined a number of temporary changes relating to a landlords ability to gain possession during the coronavirus pandemic.

New protection under the emergency bill will include:

• Landlords will be unable to start possession proceedings to evict tenants for at least a three month period during the crisis and;
• The three month mortgage payment holiday will be extended to Buy to Let mortgages to protect landlords.

Welsh Housing Minister Julie James AM announced that the measure will apply to private tenants in Wales, yesterday commenting:

“We are taking action to protect Welsh tenants and landlords affected by Coronavirus. Whilst it is right that tenants in Wales benefit from this measure, we need to do more to address the underlying issue of possession notices being issued in the first place. We will continue to do all we can to support tenants in Wales”.

“It is vital that no renter in Wales will be forced out of their home during this difficult and unprecedented time. These measures will alleviate pressures on landlords to meet mortgage payments and will further reduce pressure on tenants as a result”.

Coronavirus advice for landlords

Landlords can read more about some of the temporary changes affecting the private rented sector due to the Coronavirus outbreak over on the RLA’s dedicated Coronavirus section. This section includes guidance on what we know so far about changes to the possession process, and when more detail becomes available on this the guidance will be updated.